It is well known that in the electronics industry, particularly the personal computer industry, that the trend is to design products which are smaller, lighter, and more compact while maintaining or increasing power, speed, and memory capacity. In recent years, the computer industry has experienced the advent of the portable computer, including the lap-top computer, the notebook computer, and now the palm-top computer. Although these computers are amazingly compact and lightweight, they are still incredibly powerful and fast. They are capable of running software applications that only in the recent past were able to be run on desk-top computers with large amounts of memory.
Personal computers, which include portable computers as well as desk-top computers, include a motherboard for controlling the operation of the computer. Personal computers are sold with a specified amount of memory and hard drive space, for example, 1.2 gigabytes (GB) of hard drive and 64 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM). Much of the hard drive is used up by software which is pre-stored or "bundled" in the computer prior to its sale. As such, many computer users like to upgrade or increase the available memory of their computers. Accordingly, manufacturers configure motherboards to include expansion slots in which a computer module such as a memory card may be inserted. The expansion slots may also receive computer modules or cards for upgrading a particular function of the computer, such as cards for sounds, video, and graphics. Although there are expansion slots which have standard configurations in the industry, such as a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) slot, the motherboards of many computers have expansions slots with a configuration which is proprietary to a particular manufacturer or to a particular model of computer.
It is well known that computers are becoming smaller and more compact. Accordingly, the space available inside the computer to accommodate expansion modules is decreasing. Therefore, in order to install a more powerful module, for example, a memory module with a larger amount of memory, in a smaller space, manufacturers need to develop modules which are as powerful or have as much capacity as possible for a given amount of space.
Accordingly, in view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an expansion module which maximizes the number of chips per unit volume, i.e., chip density.